Interesting comments from Consumer, quite contrary to the experience we have seen.

Consumers are more likely to find their policy doesn't work as expected when they have arranged their cover directly with the insurer because the majority of consumers don't know what they don't know.

When you apply for insurance, we as your underwriter will perform a risk management assessment on you. This looks at three key factors: what your world and health look like, and the financial aspects that make up your picture. A risk management assessment is done to help us identify the most appropriate type of insurance cover for you.

I think it's crucial that we better understand vaccines and especially the flu vaccine.

Myth number 1. The flu vaccine prevents you from getting the Flu.

No, it doesn't. It prevents you from developing a full-blown case of the Flu, and its complications. You may not realise you have had an infection at all because the immunity created by the vaccine has been effective in activating your immune system to deal with it.

Do you buy on emotion or do you consider the relevant details before buying?

The majority of people buy their insurance based on emotion and then struggle to get what they need at claim time when the harsh reality of the facts gets applied.

We've all heard about Lime Scooters and the media beat up about them, I call it a beat up as all of the stories have lacked any contrast, and they have focused on beating up the innovation and change from the status quo.

All businesses pay ACC levies. All employees have ACC levies deducted from their wages. All contractors and those who are self-employed also pay ACC levies. But what exactly are these levies, and can I pay less? Let’s take a look…

What Are ACC Levies?

ACC levies are collected by the Accident Compensation Corporation or ACC. They are a crown entity which is responsible for administering New Zealand’s no-fault accidental-injury scheme. This means that ACC will pay the cost of medical treatment for an accidental injury, including help at home or work and income assistance. It also places a huge focus on injury prevention, funding campaigns to educate and inform individuals and workplaces about risks and how to reduce them.

While many workers in the construction industry work in the industry to avoid paperwork, the paperwar is now moving deeper into the industry than we have seen here before.

What many people don’t appreciate is the close working relationship WorkSafe has with ACC. ACC provides regular data updates to WorkSafe on work-related injuries, and WorkSafe uses this to target their visits.

With the increase in worker injuries and deaths in the construction industry since the new H&S Law came in, the MP and WorkSafe have a renewed focus on H&S compliance in the construction industry.

While the official communications externally to date have been relatively benign, the direct conversations with WorkSafe and the H&S consulting community have been significantly blunter.

The terror unleashed in Christchurch has given New Zealand, and the world, pause to consider the world around us. And one of the things that was hotly discussed was Jacinda's decision to wear Hijab.

Given her position of authority, she could have ignored the cultural aspects and shown up as she would usually have, even in the mosque. She is our prime minister after all.

However, Jacinda chose to wear Hijab and demonstrate a deep respect for the pain of the people involved, without adding to the distress on either side (male or female), as religious views and customs in these situations tend to be heightened and more likely to create tension.

We have long been a nation of 'can do', mostly because of our isolation and distance from anywhere else.

This has been a double-edged sword, in its restriction to access the world and isolating us from the rest of the world. All that changed last Friday, when the worst of the rest of the world came crashing in on Christchurch.

This one has been rolling around in my head for some time. And with the more recent World Health Organisation statement that vaccine hesitancy is one of the top 10 global health risks, it's worth saying most of the rhetoric on vaccines are both overblown and entirely out of whack with the reality of the research.

What we do know is medicine in all of its wisdom isn't always right, and science is never 100% certain. And people outside these professions and disciplines don't always appreciate and understand this.

While writing my last article on redundancy cover and why it should be considered, I had some additional thoughts while reading the research.  

It highlighted for the average punter, just getting on with life, that they didn't necessarily have the time, energy, or inclination, to do the research I had done. And even if they did, they may not have understood what they were seeing.

Having been around business for over 20 years working either on the coal face of businesses or managing aspects of companies, we have accumulated plenty of experience navigating the market.

One thing that is coming clear is it isn't often the quality of staff or even the stability of a business that dictates when a company might restructure and lay off a whole bunch of staff, or even just one person.

With this, we have a feel for what goes on with job ebbs and flows, and we are entering a cycle where the likelihood of disruption that forces job changes on people is higher than what we would consider normal.

In our busy lives and lifestyles, we often overlook the very valuable activity of stopping and spending some time thinking.

I've taken the opportunity recently to look back over the last three or four years of the Asset Magazine, a financial services publication here in New Zealand and it has been interestingly similar.

The couple of key things I noticed; there has been much shuffling with people moving around, and much noise about new things and change, but the reality has been very little has actually changed.

If I reflect on my early years in the industry, again the reality on the coal face with good advisers doing the right thing for clients, not much has changed there either.

The report on New Zealand Mental Health is a disappointing read. Yes, we need more funding in mental health, up there with no **** Sherlock. But the fundamental approach by those with the power to effect real change continues to ignore the suggestions from grassroots New Zealand on what is needed.

Mike King, by his own admission, is an addict and a bully, and after realising this is doing his piece to make a difference and address those things that cause many of the issues the report has determined they don't have a solution for. Mike has had some awesomely effective ideas, yet has been completely shut out of the process.

You’re looking for insurance cover, be it for your life, home, income or health. You have two choices. You can use an insurance advisor to do all the hard work for you, or you could purchase straight from the insurer's website. Which one will you pick?

Obviously, we recommend that you use an insurance advisor and today we’re explaining the five most important reasons why.

If you’re planning to rent your home, first do your research about landlords insurance. That’s because regular homeowner’s insurance will not cover your investment property once a tenant moves in. As insurance advisors, we know our stuff and have done the hard work for you, compiling this key guide about the must know aspects of landlords insurance for you.